


Finally Home

by The Wicked Symphony (SymphonyWizard)



Series: The Soul that Came Back [4]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-30
Updated: 2019-06-30
Packaged: 2020-05-31 04:44:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,395
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19418734
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SymphonyWizard/pseuds/The%20Wicked%20Symphony
Summary: Natasha reflects on finally having a place in the world.





	Finally Home

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Phoebe_Snow](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Phoebe_Snow/gifts), [Mickeysam](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mickeysam/gifts), [touteunvie17](https://archiveofourown.org/users/touteunvie17/gifts), [RomanogersEvansson](https://archiveofourown.org/users/RomanogersEvansson/gifts).



“Could someone please get the door?” asks Thor. “Asgardian carrying a refrigerator coming through!”

Steve laughs and opens the front doors wider. No soon that he does Thor steps in carrying a massive refrigerator like it weighs nothing. As he does, Steve directs him towards the kitchen. They wanted a house with a large kitchen. A large kitchen meant they needed a large refrigerator. 

Forget about the weight, Natasha is impressed that he can balance the massive appliance. 

“Weefwigwata,” babbles James.

She glances down at her son hoisted in her arms. “That’s right, sweetie,” she says kissing his forehead. “That’s a ‘weefwigwata’.” He just recently had his third birthday and he’s starting to form more words. Of course, many of them are not very clear, but Natasha is certain that that will change as he gets older. Right now she’s holding him not just because she loves doing so, but also to keep him out of the way while the heavier things are being moved into the house. 

As much as it is tiring, it’s really the only option she has. Every baby gate she and Steve try to put up, whether to keep James in or out, he escapes. Three years old and he’s already something of an escape artist. How long will it take him to figure out how to bypass any other baby-proofing material? Such as cabinets in the kitchen? Their son is already too clever for his own good. People like Clint and Bucky boldly remind them that it’s their fault. They should have been more careful in bed.

How they are still breathing for uttering such remarks, Natasha has no clue.

“You guys couldn’t have picked a house that I’d have an easier time fitting through?” asks Bruce from outside the door. 

Natasha goes to the open doorway of her double-door entrance and stares up at the big, bespectacled Professor Hulk. “Bruce, you can fit through the door. If you’ve figured out how to fuse yourself with your Hulk persona, aren’t you also able to go back to just being Bruce?”

The green, gentle brute sighs heavily. He is crouching down so that he can see Natasha through the doorway. “I never thought I’d have to,” he admits. 

Natasha offers him an encouraging smile. “Bruce you’re probably the most intelligent person I know,” she says. Well up until Tony’s death, she could never decide which of them were smarter as they were both very intelligent in their respective fields of study. “You’ve accomplished this; you can figure out how to just be Bruce as well.”

Thankfully, he smiles at her vote of encouragement. “Yeah, I suppose you’re right.”

“Don’t think you’re not a guest in my house, Banner,” she warns him. “You just need to figure out how to fit through the front door.” She’s relieved when he laughs at her comment. She is still getting used to saying “my house.” The words taste so good in her mouth. Just that possessive pronoun feels so good. _My house, my husband, my son, my family_ , she thinks fondly. 

For all the sorrow over the last few years, it seems that she is getting more opportunities to use the words “my” and “mine.” 

She watches Bruce as he walks away. As he does, Steve and Clint come walking in towards the door with the dinner table. She steps aside and lets them through. Steve didn’t think that they would need a large table, but Natasha thought it would be good to have a table large enough in case they have company. 

It’s long past time for the Avengers, what’s left of them anyway, to go their separate ways and start a new chapter in their lives. Even so, they have all been through too much to not keep in touch with each other. So they ended up choosing an expandable dining table. If it comes to it, they can always get another table for the children to sit at. The polished walnut table has two leaves that can be removed. At its fullest extent, it can seat ten people, but they are comfortable with leaving it at its smallest form. If they need to, they can add another table at the end depending on how many guests they have. 

Steve knows where to put the table without being directed. Before they even packed the moving van with all of their belongings, they spent a long time discussing how they were going to fill their new house. Eventually, they ended up pulling out some paper and pencils and drew layouts of the first and second floor as well as the basement. Steve might have gotten carried away with detail, but he’s an artist and Natasha didn’t call him out on it. 

It made her heart sing seeing him draw for the first time since God-knows-when. She lost count of how many drafts they went through. How hard was it to decide on how they were going to furnish their new home? About the only thing that remained unchanged in all of their drafts was James’s bedroom. They set up their son’s bedroom before they did anything else. 

At the time, all they had was their son’s crib, which sooner or later he won’t even need any anymore. Maybe they made furnishing their house more complicated than necessary, but for the both of them—more for Natasha than Steve—it is their first house. They might have had their own space before, apartments, whole suites that were just theirs, but they never had their own _house_. 

The last time that Steve had a home, in his eyes, was back in the twenties and thirties. Natasha never had a house. KGB and S.H.I.E.L.D., she had lodging, she had dwellings, but nothing exactly permanent. She was always on the move. The Avengers gave her a home. Steve became her home and that was _before_ he proposed to her on that snowy Christmas Eve at Clint’s house.

All they needed was a house. And now they have it. She wishes that Tony was alive so that she could thank him in person for the house. Learning that he had a blank check for a house payment waiting for them all these years was overwhelming. Steve was hesitant to accept it—so was Natasha, if she would be honest with herself—but not accepting it would be been an insult to Tony’s memory. 

It wasn’t Pepper who convinced them to take the check, but Morgan. Morgan is a tough little girl to say no to. She has the intensity of her mother and, even at her tender age, the charisma of her father. If she wants to, Natasha thinks she will make an excellent businesswoman one day. Or maybe she was just too cute on top of the fact that she misses her father so much.

Accepting the check was a good way to honor Tony. 

So they bought a country house in the middle of Ohio. It’s a four-bedroom house with three full bathrooms and a full basement. Three of the bedrooms are upstairs along with one of the bathrooms. The second bathroom is on the ground floor and the third is in the basement along with the fourth bedroom. The basement is where they plan to furnish as a playroom or a TV room. The ground floor is where the kitchen, dining room, and family room are. And, of course, the upper floor is where most of the bedrooms including the master bedroom are. There is also a room about the two-car garage which is attached to the house. 

That’s all they have figured out at the moment. They are still wondering what to do about some of the other empty rooms. 

There’s also a shed on their property. Steve is probably going to use that to store a motorcycle. Natasha was firm on her decision that he wouldn’t store a motorcycle in the garage. He was so sad to see his beloved bike destroyed in the battle that she wasn’t even a part of. 

It’s not bordered by a body of water like Tony’s house, but it is surrounded by forest and neighboring farmland. Natasha doesn’t see herself being a farmer, but Steve has talked about growing a garden. Even James, despite being a toddler, seems to really like flowers. 

It’s autumn now, and the trees around them have created a colorful wall around their home. Some of the trees are close enough that their yard is already littered in fallen leaves. Some of the farmland around them is ripe for harvest. About ten minutes from their house is an apple orchard. Steve wants to go apple picking this weekend, if their neighbors don’t bother them with “welcome to the neighborhood” gifts. Natasha doesn’t want to be a recluse, but she will still install measures to protect their home from uninvited guests or people who would want to do them harm. 

Steve thought having a four-bedroom house seemed unnecessary, but Natasha reasoned it would be good to have at least one guest bedroom in case one of their colleagues decides to come over. Being in Ohio puts them far away from Pepper and Clint, but sometimes it’s nice to start a new life with a bit of seclusion. 

Plus, thanks to the blank check, they have no mortgage to worry about. That’s a big plus. 

Since most of their belongings couldn’t be salvaged from the wreckage of the Avengers complex, they had to buy quite a few things. They had to buy beds for each bedroom. The master bedroom was large enough to hold a king-sized bed. Natasha jokingly asked Steve how she would find him in such a big bed. He kissed her and told her that he strongly doubts she would misplace him. 

Really, they don’t have too many belongings yet. They barely have enough to fill the house. So far, they just have some basic things. They have a couch and television set to put in their living room. They have a washer and dryer to put in the basement. They can buy a few more things as they go along. 

Neither she nor Steve has jobs yet, but Natasha has found an empty place in town where she plans to open a ballet studio. Steve isn’t sure what he wants to do. All he’s ever known is being a soldier and before that, a struggling artist trying to make a buck in Depression and post-Depression New York City. 

Natasha has told him yet, but when she was in town last, she heard that the local community college was looking for an art teacher. It might take some convincing, but she thinks it will be rewarding for him.

“Earth to Nat.”

Natasha ceases her musings and sees her husband glancing down at her. 

“You okay, babe?” he asks. 

She shakes her head and gives him a half smile. “I’m fine,” she replies. She glances down at her son fondly, grunting as she adjusts her grip on him. “I’m starting to wonder if this little creature is going to be a bigger handful than you are.” 

Steve raises an eyebrow as he dares to take a step towards her. “You think _I’m_ a handful?” he challenges, his voice dropping very low. 

Natasha takes a shaky breath. “Steve, our son in my arms, we have guests, and we aren’t behind closed doors.”

Steve seems to consider her words for a minute. But then his lips meet hers. She allows it and kisses him right back. “I’m sensing a bit of a reversal in roles right now. Wasn’t _I_ usually the prude and not you?”

Natasha laughs. “Yes, but…”

“Oh, get a room you two!” laughs Sam as he comes in wearing an apron. 

Steve and Natasha direct raised eyebrows.

“We don’t need a room; this is our house,” Steve reasons. 

Sam considers that as he scratches his chin with his oven mitt covered hand. “I’ll give you that, but maybe you could have enough dignity to not traumatize poor Jamie.” 

“He’s right, Steve,” Natasha agrees. She raises her eyebrows when he directs an indignant stare at her. He returns his gaze to their friend. 

“You’re lucky you’re a permanent guest in this house,” he grumbles. 

Sam smirks. “Of course you are. Otherwise, you wouldn’t get to enjoy my famous grilled kebabs. Speaking of, I should get back to them before Bucky gets any ideas.” The thought must disturb him as his face falls. He stalks off grumbling.

Steve and Natasha laugh. Steve turns to Natasha and takes their son from her. “It’s my turn to hold him.”

“You can hold him all you want, but he’s still going to learn ballet!” Natasha calls after him. 

Steve turns around and regards her. About ten seconds later, he rolls his eyes and follows Sam out to the backyard to the cookout that Sam and Bucky have been putting together. It was a joke that started a few weeks ago. Whoever holds their son more will have more influence on him. 

It’s all going to be up to James of course, but Natasha would very much like to teach her son ballet. She waits in her house for just a moment before she follows everyone out to the backyard. It might be a long time before she can stop soaking in the feeling of actually having a house, of finally being _home_.

The Red Room taught her she had no place in the world. She was just a deadly tool waiting for her expiration date. It’s taken a lifetime, but she finally proved her instructors wrong. If people like Ivan Petrovich could see her now, she wonders what he would think. She’s come a long way from being that scared little girl he found on the streets of Moscow, alone and hungry. No longer is she that innocent girl who was cuffed to a bed at night and tested to the edge of her endurance by day.

For once in her life, there’s no next mission. Perhaps there will be a day when she will don her suit again, but she’s ready for a long time of just being Natasha.

Really the only certain “next mission” is the child growing in her belly that she has yet to reveal to her husband. 

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading.
> 
> I didn't get to post everything I wanted to this weekend, but if it was going to be anything, it was this. Just thought I'd take a break from a long story to finish this little series.
> 
> But there definitely shall be more to fill a few gaps in between.


End file.
